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The day has come… After a year and a half of preparation, our trip starts today.I’m leaving for the airport in about two hours. These last days have been hectic, whether it was to find the last pieces of equipment or to finish my job in the lab. There have been disappointments (thanks to the National Bank who told me they never got my credit card application form even though I filled it in one of their agencies. No Canadian credit card for me…) and comforting moments (thanks to all the staff of Le Yéti for helping me solving the problems I might have had, answering all my questions and showing some interest for our trip).

The only concern now is the mount for the video camera which, though strong enough to hold a stove on my handlbar, might affect my tremendous speed in the hills.

I’ve also (finally) added the questions by the children of the École Enfant-Soleil. They have not been translated to english yet due to a lack of time.

To those asking us if we are ready, I’ll just give you en excerpt of a phone call I had with Jean on wednesday:
Jean: “I think we’ll do 60 miles a day for the first 3 days, but I’m going to ride like a grandmother.”

Today, we answered three more questions, thanks to Jean. As usual, all the answers are summarized in the Questions page. I also reorganized that page to outline our answers.

I also would like to mention that Mumu has been promoted from the status of “moral support” to the one of “Editor”. She will be in charge of updating the blog when we will not have access to the Internet (namely, we will give her lots of information once a week and she will split it in daily updates).

Thanks Mumu!

And the questions with the associated answers:

What will you do if it rains when you are cycling?We have waterproof equipment, so except if the conditions are really, really bad, we will keep cycling when it rains. — Jean

In Alaska, will you cycle on road or on snow?We will always travel on road. Some road will be gravel roads. We do not expect to have snow on the road. However, it is not completely impossible to have snow close from the Arctic Ocean. The snow should be removed from the road as vehicles need to use the road. If there is snow on the road itself, we will not be in a position to cycle. We will then either wait for the snow to be removed or we will have to change our plans and to use another route. — Jean

Will there be snow in the Rockies?There will probably be snow on the tops of the Rocky Mountains. No snow is expected on the road though. — Jean

If you are caught in a very violent storm, will you keep going or giving up? — Charlotte, Ecole StanislasIf we are caught in a very violent storm, we will look for a shelter and wait for the storm to calm down. We will not keep going. — Jean

A little update to tell you that almost everything is set now. We have a Bed and Breakfast booked in Vancouver, a satellite phone and bear-proof barrels.

I also visited the school Enfant Soleil on tuesday and gathered many questions and drawings. We also got some drawings from Kincardine in Menteith and Jean decided which one he wanted to see first.

Edit: the drawing is from Becky Hamlyn (Primary 7).

I have also been told that the “Questions” was bit confusing. I will thus try to explain it a bit better: we will answer the questions regarding our attitude towards the trip and the preparation before leaving for Vancouver. The rest of the questions will be addressed during our trip. Every time an answer to a new question is given, it will be both posted on the blog and added in the Questions page.